A formação profissional na Administração Pública em países europeus

Estudo realizado em 2009 pela Equipa Multidisciplinar de Investigação e Consultoria (EMIC) do INA

Compensatory postural adjustments in na oculus virtual reality environment and the risk of falling in Alzheimer’s disease

Background/Aims Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients have an impaired ability to quickly reweight central sensory dependence in response to unexpected body perturbations. Herein, we aim to study provoked compensatory postural adjustments (CPAs) in a conflicting sensory paradigm with unpredictable visual displacements using virtual reality goggles. Methods We used kinematic time-frequency analyses of two frequency bands: a low-frequency band (LB; 0.3-1.5 Hz; mechanical strategy) and a high-frequency band (HB; 1.5-3.5 Hz; cognitive strategy). We enrolled 19 healthy subjects (controls) and 21 AD patients, divided according to their previous history of falls. Results The AD faller group presented higher-power LB CPAs, reflecting their worse inherent postural stability. The AD patients had a time lag in their HB CPA reaction. Conclusion The slower reaction by CPA in AD may be a reflection of different cognitive resources including body schema self-perception, visual motion, depth perception, or a different state of fear and/or anxiety.The Centro ALGORITMI was funded by the FP7 Marie Curie ITN Neural Engineering Transformative Technologies (NETT) project. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DCMC as a promising alternative to bentonite in white wine stabilization. Impact on protein stability and wine aromatic fraction

Protein haze in white wine is one of the most common non-microbial defects of commercial wines, with bentonite being the main solution utilized by the winemaking industry to tackle this problem. Bentonite presents some serious disadvantages, and several alternatives have been proposed. Here, an alternative based on a new cellulose derivative (dicarboxymethyl cellulose, DCMC) is proposed. To determine the efficiency of DCMC as a bentonite alternative, three monovarietal wines were characterized, and their protein instability and content determined by a heat stability test (HST) and the Bradford method, respectively. The wines were treated with DCMC to achieve stable wines, as shown by the HST, and the efficacy of the treatments was assessed by determining, before and after treatment, the wine content in protein, phenolic compounds, sodium, calcium, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as the wine pH. DCMC applied at dosages such as those commonly employed for bentonite was able to reduce the protein content in all tested wines and to stabilize all but the Moscatel de Setúbal varietal wine. In general, DCMC was shown to induce lower changes in the wine pH and phenolic content than bentonite, reducing the wine calcium content. Regarding which VOCs are concerned, DCMC produced a general impact similar to that of bentonite, with differences depending on wine variety. The results obtained suggest that DCMC can be a sustainable alternative to bentonite in protein white wine stabilizationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dcmc as a promising alternative to bentonite in white wine stabilization. Impact on protein stability and wine aromatic fraction

Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry—LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES [UID/QUI/50006/2020] and the project [UIDB/05183/2020], CENSE (Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research), which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/AMB/04085/2020), and LEAF, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (LEAF UID/AGR/04129/2020). This research was also anchored by the RESOLUTION LAB, an infrastructure at NOVA School of Science and Technology. DG was financed by a PhD grant: DFA/BD/5529/2020.Protein haze in white wine is one of the most common non-microbial defects of commercial wines, with bentonite being the main solution utilized by the winemaking industry to tackle this problem. Bentonite presents some serious disadvantages, and several alternatives have been pro-posed. Here, an alternative based on a new cellulose derivative (dicarboxymethyl cellulose, DCMC) is proposed. To determine the efficiency of DCMC as a bentonite alternative, three monovarietal wines were characterized, and their protein instability and content determined by a heat stability test (HST) and the Bradford method, respectively. The wines were treated with DCMC to achieve stable wines, as shown by the HST, and the efficacy of the treatments was assessed by determining, before and after treatment, the wine content in protein, phenolic compounds, sodium, calcium, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as the wine pH. DCMC applied at dosages such as those commonly employed for bentonite was able to reduce the protein content in all tested wines and to stabilize all but the Moscatel de Setúbal varietal wine. In general, DCMC was shown to induce lower changes in the wine pH and phenolic content than bentonite, reducing the wine calcium content. Regarding which VOCs are concerned, DCMC produced a general impact similar to that of bentonite, with differences depending on wine variety. The results obtained suggest that DCMC can be a sustainable alternative to bentonite in protein white wine stabilization.publishersversionpublishe

The effect of levodopa on postural stability evaluated by wearable inertial measurement units for idiopathic and vascular Parkinson’s disease

BACKGROUND: Postural stability analysis has shown that postural control is impaired in untreated idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), even in the early stages of the disease. Vascular Parkinson's disease (VPD) lacks consensus clinical criteria or diagnostic tests. Moreover, the levodopa effect on postural balance remains undefined for IPD and even less so for VPD. OBJECTIVE: To characterize postural stability, using kinematic analysis with wearable inertial measurement units, in IPD and VPD patients without clinical PI, and to subsequently analyze the response to levodopa. METHODS: Ten patients with akinetic-rigid IPD and five patients with VPD were included. Clinical and postural stability kinematic analysis was performed before and after levodopa challenge, on different standing tasks: normal stance (NS), Romberg eyes open (REO) and Romberg eyes closed. RESULTS: In the "off state", VPD patients had higher mean distances and higher maximal distance of postural sway on NS and REO tasks, respectively. VPD patients maintained a higher range of anterior-posterior (AP) postural sway after levodopa. In the absence of PI and non-significant differences in UPDRS-III, a higher mPIGD score in the VPD patients was mainly due to gait disturbance. Gait disturbance, and not UPDRS-III, influenced the degree of postural sway response to levodopa for VPD patients. CONCLUSION: Quantitative postural sway evaluation is useful in the investigation of Parkinsonian syndromes. VPD patients have higher AP postural sway that is correlated with their gait disturbance burden and also not responsive to levodopa. These observations corroborate the interconnection of postural control and locomotor networks

Protecção biológica de conservação e gestão de largadas de auxiliares

Os complexos de espécies de parasitóides e predadores que limitam as populações das principais pragas de culturas hortícolas protegidas, mosquinhas brancas, larvas mineiras, lagartas, afídeos e tripes, têm vindo a ser estudados na região Oeste desde há mais de 25 anos. A riqueza específica encontrada nestes complexos é elevada. Algumas das espécies identificadas são comercializadas para largadas. Estas largadas podem afectar as populações dos agentes de luta biológica presentes nas culturas, ao nível da composição específica dos complexos, da abundância populacional de cada espécie e na proporção relativa dos vários genótipos presentes nas populações. Está a decorrer uma operação/projecto ProDeR, medida 4.1, promovida por duas empresas agrícolas e três instituições de ensino superior público, que pretende definir regras de actuação no combate às pragas destas culturas face à intensidade de ataque observada e aos auxiliares autóctones presentes e sua abundância, com o objectivo de definir regras para eventuais tratamentos biológicos e analisar as consequências destes, de forma a melhor adequar as estratégias de protecção a adoptar.-------The species complexes of parasitoids and predators which control populations of the main pests of vegetable protected crops have been studied for the last 25 years in the Oeste region. Species richness found in the complexes which prey or parasitize the main pests found in these crops, such as whiteflies, leafminers, caterpillars, aphids and thrips is high. Some of the identified species are commercialized for biological control releases. These releases can affect populations of the naturally occurring biological control agents, regarding species composition of the complexes, species abundance and representativeness of the genotypes present in the populations. A ProDeR - measure 4.1 operation/project promoted by two enterprises and three higher education institutions is ongoing. The aim of this project is to define decision rules to control pests of protected crops taking into account pest attack severity, beneficial arthropod species present and their abundance, and through this to define rules for eventual commercial releases of beneficial arthropods and to analyse their consequences. This will lead to the adoption of more adequate plant protection control measures

Gardens and Tourism for and beyond economic profit

Gardens and Tourism for and beyond economic profit é o segundo volume da Collection of Gardens and Landscape Studies, coordenada por Ana Duarte Rodrigues. Conta com textos de Alexandra Gago da Câmara, Ana Duarte Rodrigues, António Lamas, Antonio Perla de las Parras, Celso Mangucci, Desidério Batista, Filipe Benjamim, Ignacio Rodriguez Somovilla, Jean-Paul Brigand, Maria Isabel Donas Botto, Nuno Oliveira, Paulo Carvalho, Susana Silva e Victoria Soto Caba. Assumindo uma perspectiva multidisciplinar das áreas da história da arte, arquitectura paisagista, literatura e geografia, e reunindo académicos e profissionais que operam na área do Garden Tourism, este livro constitui um trabalho inaugural nos estudos de jardins e paisagem. Certamente que constitui um balanço baseado em casos de estudo das potencialidades do turismo de jardins em Portugal, mas também aponta caminhos e hipóteses de trabalho num futuro próximo. Constitui um convite a que todos os interessados na preservação e promoção deste património se unam para criar as ferramentas necessárias à sua dinamização e salvaguarda para o futuro

Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Antibiotic-Treated COVID-19 Patients is Associated with Microbial Translocation and Bacteremia

Although microbial populations in the gut microbiome are associated with COVID-19 severity, a causal impact on patient health has not been established. Here we provide evidence that gut microbiome dysbiosis is associated with translocation of bacteria into the blood during COVID-19, causing life-threatening secondary infections. We first demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 infection induces gut microbiome dysbiosis in mice, which correlated with alterations to Paneth cells and goblet cells, and markers of barrier permeability. Samples collected from 96 COVID-19 patients at two different clinical sites also revealed substantial gut microbiome dysbiosis, including blooms of opportunistic pathogenic bacterial genera known to include antimicrobial-resistant species. Analysis of blood culture results testing for secondary microbial bloodstream infections with paired microbiome data indicates that bacteria may translocate from the gut into the systemic circulation of COVID-19 patients. These results are consistent with a direct role for gut microbiome dysbiosis in enabling dangerous secondary infections during COVID-19

The CHEK2 Variant C.349A>G Is Associated with Prostate Cancer Risk and Carriers Share a Common Ancestor.

The identification of recurrent founder variants in cancer predisposing genes may have important implications for implementing cost-effective targeted genetic screening strategies. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence and relative risk of the CHEK2 recurrent variant c.349A>G in a series of 462 Portuguese patients with early-onset and/or familial/hereditary prostate cancer (PrCa), as well as in the large multicentre PRACTICAL case-control study comprising 55,162 prostate cancer cases and 36,147 controls. Additionally, we investigated the potential shared ancestry of the carriers by performing identity-by-descent, haplotype and age estimation analyses using high-density SNP data from 70 variant carriers belonging to 11 different populations included in the PRACTICAL consortium. The CHEK2 missense variant c.349A>G was found significantly associated with an increased risk for PrCa (OR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.2). A shared haplotype flanking the variant in all carriers was identified, strongly suggesting a common founder of European origin. Additionally, using two independent statistical algorithms, implemented by DMLE+2.3 and ESTIAGE, we were able to estimate the age of the variant between 2300 and 3125 years. By extending the haplotype analysis to 14 additional carrier families, a shared core haplotype was revealed among all carriers matching the conserved region previously identified in the high-density SNP analysis. These findings are consistent with CHEK2 c.349A>G being a founder variant associated with increased PrCa risk, suggesting its potential usefulness for cost-effective targeted genetic screening in PrCa families